Method and apparatus for varying the relative length of a plurality of leads by forming bights in selected leads

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for varying the relative length of sections of a plurality of leads which are held in fixed relationship to each other at a location spaced away from the ends of the sections. A template is provided having a plurality of grooves in which the sections are disposed, and a bight is formed in intermediate portions of selected leads while other portions of said selected leads are being maintained in portions of said grooves. The ends of the plurality of leads may then be trimmed whereby the relative length of the sections of the various leads is varied.

1451 Mar. 18, 1975 United States Patent 1191 Folk [ METHOD AND APPARATUSFOR VARYING O05 20 MUM 9O 24 9 .2

3,450,829 6/1969 Paul.......... 3 636,991 1/1972 Webster...............

THE RELATIVE LENGTH or A PLURALITY or LEADS BY FORMING BIGHTS IN CemkaSELECTED LEADS 10/1973 Burns..................... ::..29/203D 3,817,1276/1974 Soeller.................

[75] Inventor: Kenneth Foster Folk, Harrisburg,

Primary ExaminerC. W. Lanham g n a e K [73] Assignee: AMP Incorporated,Harrisburg, Pa,

Dec. 12, 1973 Attorney, Agent, or Firm [22] Filed:

[57] ABSTRACT A method and apparatus for varying the relative 21 Appl.No; 424,133

[52] U S Cl 29/628 29/203 D 29/203 DT length of sections of a pluralityof leads which are held in fixed relationship to each other at alocation spaced 32933- away from the ends of the sections. A template ispro- [51] Int.

vided having a plurality of grooves in which the sections are disposed,and a bight is formed in intermediate portions of selected leads whileother portions of said selected leads are being maintained in portionsof 4 Dmo M 4 QNZ wMB .13 50 w PM 3 MOB /2 0 m H 33 06 i Ann saidgrooves. The ends of the plurality of leads may then be trimmed wherebythe relative length of the sections of the various leads is varied.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 18 Claims, 11 Drawing FiguresZimmerman et a1. 140/147 29/630 B Kauffman PATENTEU MR1 191ssussrsurePATENTEI] MARI 81975 winner's PATENTED HAR I 8 I975 v sum 5 o METHOD ANDAPPARATUS FOR VARYING THE RELATIVE LENGTH OF A'PLURALITY OF LEADS BYFORMING BIGHTS IN SELECTED LEADS CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONSThis application relates to U.S. application Ser. No. 389,924 filed Aug.20, 1973 and entitled Method And Apparatus For Positioning LeadingPortions Of Individual Wires Of A Plurality Of Wires In Spaced ApartRelationships With Respect To Each Other And A Template Utilized InAccomplishing The Same, and also to U.S. application Ser. No. 425,129filed concurrently with this application and entitled Method AndApparatus For Varying The Relative Length Of A Plurality Of Leads AndFor Performing Work Operations On The Ends Of Leads Of DifferingRelative Length, both of these related applications being assigned tothe same assignee as this application, and the second of these relatedapplications being a continuation-in-part of the first application.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to amethod and apparatus for varying the length of a plurality of leads withrespect to each other, and more particularly to a method and apparatusfor varying the length of associated leads while maintaining portions ofthe leads in fixed relationship to each other so that subsequent workoperations can be performed on the leads after their length has beenvaried.

BACKGROUND OF TH E INVENTION Prior to the development of the method andapparatus shown in co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 389,924 it wascustomary to separate the leads of a work piece having a plurality ofleads by hand prior to performing subsequent work operation on the endsof the leads. Thus, if it were necessary to apply terminals to the leadsof a multi-lead cable it was first necessary to strip the cableinsulation from the end of the cable and to then individually place theterminal on each of the leads. If it were also necessary to shorten someof the leads, this was also done by hand.

In U.S. application Ser. .No. 389,924 a method and apparatus isdisclosed which positions a plurality of associated leads in spacedapart relationship with respect to each other,'this positioning beingdone by an apparatus which includes a template having a plurality ofspaced apart grooves which emanate from a primary groove, the spacedapart grooves being capable of receiving only one lead and the primarygroove being capable of receiving the end of a multi-lead cable fromwhich a plurality of free end sections emanate. According to the methodof the aforesaid application, the end of the multi-lead cable is placedin the primary groove with the free end sections overlying the pluralityof spaced apart grooves, and the free end sections are then forced intothe plurality of grooves by an oscillating roller or the like which isbiased towards the template and moved from the primary groove towardsthe ends of the plurality of grooves which extend away from the primarygroove. Once the free end sections have been forced into the pluralityof grooves, they are then in a fixed or oriented location suitable forsubsequent machine operations whereby the ends may be trimmed and/or aplurality of terminals or the like may be simultaneously applied to theends. of the free end sections.

When utilizing the principlesof the aforesaid application all of theleads are of approximately the same length. However, in someapplications it is necessary to simultaneously vary the length ofindividual leads. For example, when applying terminals to the ends ofthe leads of a four-lead cable which is used in the hand set of atelephone, it is necessary to have two leads (that is those leads whichgo to the mouthpiece of the handset) relatively short and the other twoleads (which are to be associated with the earpiece of the handset)relatively long. Thus, it is not possible with the apparatus shown inthe aforesaid U.S. Pat. application to automatically vary the lengths ofleads of a multi-lead cable or the like, and to simultaneously applyterminals or the like to the ends of the leads which are of differentlengths.

In co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 425,129 entitled Method AndApparatus For Varying The Relative Length vOf A Plurality Of Leads AndFor Performing Work Operations On The Ends Of Leads Of DifferingRelative Length a method and apparatus is disclosed which may beutilized to vary the relative lengths of a plurality of leads prior tosubsequent automatic operations on the ends of the leads. In oneembodiment illustrated in the aforesaid U.S. application, a template isdisclosed having a primary groove and a plurality of spaced apartsecondary grooves which emanate from the primary groove, the overalllength of one or more of the secondary grooves being somewhat longerthan the other secondary grooves. In the embodiment referred to theworkpiece consists of a multilead cable which has four free end sectionsemanating therefrom. In the practice of this embodiment the end of themulti-lead cable is placed in the primary groove,

the free end sections are forced into the secondary grooves, the freeend sections are trimmed adjacent the ends of the secondary groovesremote from the primary groove, and then terminals or the like areapplied to the ends of the free end sections. In the other embodimentsillustrated in the aforesaid application leads are also placed in spacedapart grooves of varying overall lengths. In one of these otherembodiments the leads are taken from supply spools adjacent one end ofthe template and are held in a centering device at the other end of thetemplate, the template having a plurality of grooves equal in number tothe number of supply spools from which the leads are taken. Portions ofthe leads which extend between the centering device and the supplyspools are then forced into the grooves of varying lengths, and theleads are subsequently trimmed prior to additional operations which mayinclude the application of terminals to the ends of the leadswhich havebeen trimmed. In another embodiment shown in the aforesaid applicationthe leads extend from a coil or the like, the initial portion of theleads immediately adjacent the coil having fixed centers. The initialportions are placed in spaced apart grooves at one end of a template,the grooves being of varying lengths, and the portions of the leadswhich extend away from the initial portions are then forced into thegrooves of the template prior to subsequent assembly operations.

While'the structures shown in the aforesaidUS. ap-

plication have been suitable when working with a variety of leadassemblies where a relatively small variation in the length of the leadsis desired, it has not been possible with the aforesaid structures toobtain a substantial variation in the length of the leads as would benecessary when the leads are to be utilized, as for example, in the handset of a telephone.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a principle object of thepresent invention to provide a method and apparatus for substantiallyvarying the relative length of a plurality of leads which-extend awayfrom a portion of the leads which are held in fixed relationship to eachother so that subsequent automatic operations can be performed on theleads at a location spaced away from that portion of the leads which areheld in fixed relationship to each other.

More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to vary thelength of a plurality of leads by positioning the leads in a pluralityof spaced apart grooves.

on a template, by moving an intermediate portion of selected leads outof their associated grooves to form a bight therein while maintainingother portions of said selected leads within said grooves, and bytrimming the leads.

It is a further object of the present invention to vary the length of aplurality of leads having sections which extend away from a portion ofthe leads which are held in fixed relationship to each other wherein thesections are disposed in a plurality of spaced apart grooves on atemplate, the template being provided with aperture means between theends of the grooves and in which an intermediate portion of selectedsections are moved out of their associated grooves at an angle relativeto the plane of the template by engaging an intermediate portion of theselected sections with push rod means movable through the aperturemeans.

It is a further object of the present invention to vary the length of aplurality of leads having free end sections which extend away from aportion of the leads which are held in fixed relationship to each otherby disposing the held portion of said leads in a primary groove of atemplate with the free end sections overlying secondary grooves whichemanate from the primary groove, by forcing the free end sections intothe secondary grooves, and by forming bights in intermediate portions ofselected secondary free end sections while maintaining other portions ofthe leads within the grooves, and subsequently trimming the ends ofthefree end sections so that the length of the free end sections of theselected leads are increased relative to the length of the free endsections of those leads which have not been selected.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatusfor varying the length of a plurality of leads having sections whichextend away from a portion of the leads which are held in fixedrelationship to each other, the apparatus including a template having aplanar surface having a plurality of grooves disposed in spaced apartrelationship to each other, means capable of forcing the sections ofsaid plurality of leads into the grooves, means associated with thetemplate operable to engage an intermediate portion of selected leadswhile disposed in said grooves and to move said intermediate portion ofsaid leads out of said grooves to form a bight therein, and meansmounted on the frame operable to trim the sections in a common planewhereby the length of the sections of the selected leads are increasedrelative to the length of the sections of those leads which have notbeen selected.

These and other objects and advantages ofthis invention are accomplishedby providing a template having a plurality of spaced apart grooves, eachof the spaced apart grooves being capable of receiving only a singlelead, the template also having aperture means which intersects each ofthe grooves, by disposing the leads whose lengths are to be variedrelative to each other within the grooves by moving a roller or the likeprogressively across the template, theroller being biased toward thetemplate so that the leads are progressively forced into the grooves,and then by engaging an intermediate portion of those leads which are tobe lengthened relative to the other leads and by moving the intermediateportion of those leads out-of the grooves to form a bight in the leads,the engaging and moving steps being accomplished by push rod meansmovable through the aperture means, and by subsequently trimming theends of all the leads in a common plane at a location remote from thatportion of the leads which are held together in fixed relationship toeach other so that the lengths of the various leads are varied withrespect to each other. Subsequent to the trimming operation, orconcurrently with the trimming operation, assembly operations can beperformed upon the ends of theleads.

These and other objects and features will be apparent to those skilledin the art after a consideration of the following detailed descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which a preferredform of this invention is shown.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of anapparatus which may be utilized to perform the method of thisapplication, parts being broken away and omitted for purposed ofclarity.

FIG. 2 is a sectional plan view of a portion of the apparatus shown inFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a section taken along the line 33 of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a portion of the apparatusshown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view, illustrating in 'a schematicvmanner howsubsequent work operations may be performed on ends ofleads after theirrelative lengths have been varied. 4

FIGS. 6 through 11 are somewhat schematic perspective views illustratingthe sequence of operations which may be performed upon a workpiece.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT SHOWN THE DRAWINGS In the embodimentillustrated in the drawings an apparatus is illustrated which isutilized to vary the length of free end sections of a multi-lead cable.It should be noted that the method of this invention is suitable forvarying the relative length of leads other than a multilead cable havingfree end sections emanating from the cable, and that slightly differentforms of apparatus may be employed for differing workpieces.

Referring first to FIG. 1, a frame, indicated generally at 10, isillustrated, the frame having upper and lower plates l2, 14,respectively, which are spaced apart from each other by front and rearrails l6, 18, respectively. Mounted on the upper plate 12 are templatemeans indicated generally at 20. The template means illustrated in thisapplication is generally of the same type shown in co-pending U.S.application Ser. No. 389,924 in that it has a generally planar surface21 provided with a primary groove 22 and a plurality of spaced apartsecondary grooves 24 (FIGS. 4 and 6) which emanate from the primarygroove and which are also formed in the generally planar surface 21. Thesecondary grooves are spaced apart adjacent the primary groove adistance sufficient to accomodate all the leads in a side-by-sidedisposition as can best be seen in FIGS. 711, and portions of thegrooves 24 are spaced a greater distance apart at locations spaced awayfrom the primary groove. The template means is also provided with aplurality of aperture means 26 which intersect each of the secondarygrooves 24, the aperture means 26 extending through the full width ofthe template means from the upper planar surface 21 to the lowersurface. In the embodiment shown in this application the template meansis shown associated with a multi-lead cable 28 which has a plurality ofleads having free end sections 30 which extend outwardly from theinsulation about the multi-lead cable. It should be noted at this pointthat each of the plurality of secondary grooves is able to accomodateonly one of the leads 30. Similarly, in the embodiment shown in thesedrawings, the primary groove 24 is able to accommodate the end of themulti-lead cable 28 from which the plurality of free end lead sections30 emanate. It should also be noted that the insulation of themulti-lead cable serves to hold that portion of the leads which itsurrounds in fixed relationship to each other.

Mounted adjacent to the upper surface 21 of the template means 20 aremeans, indicated generally at 32, which are operable to position theplurality of free end lead sections 30 in the plurality of spaced apartsecondary grooves 24, the positioning means 32 including a pair ofspaced apart rollers 34, 36 which are mounted for relative movement withrespect to the template to progressively force the free lead sections 30into the secondary grooves. In this regard it should be noted that oneend of each of the rollers 34, 36 are mounted in downwardly extendingportions 38, 40 respectively, of spaced apart arms 42, 44. Each of thearms 42, 44 extend outwardly from a support element 46, and each of theother ends of the rollers 34, 36 are also secured to the support element46. The support element 46 is in turn mounted on the outer end of a rod48, the inner end of the rod 48 carrying a piston (not shown) which ismounted within the cylinder 50 ofa double acting hydraulic cylinderassembly or the like, said cylinder assembly being indicated generallyat 52. As can best be seen from FIG. 1 the cylinder assembly is rigidlymounted upon the upper surface of the upper plate 12. Also mounted onthe upper plate 12 is a clamping means indicated generally at 54, theclamping means including upper and lower arms 56, 58 respectively, eachof the arms being swingably mounted about a stub shaft 60, the stubshaft having a portion 62 at right angles to the principal axis of thestub shaft, the portion 62 being butt-welded to the plate 12. Theportions of the arms remote from the stub shaft have seats which areadapted to engage the multi-Iead cable 28 and to hold it in place whenthe arms 56 and 58 are in the position shown in FIG. 1.

The structure so far described, with the exception of the apertures 26and the spaced apart rollers 34, 36,

generally parallels the structure shown in co-pending I U.S. applicationSer. No. 389,924. When utilizing this structure in order to dispose theplurality of free end lead sections 30 in'the plurality of spaced apartsecondary grooves 24 it would be necessary first to extend the cylinderassembly 52 to the left as viewed in FIG. 1 to a point where the roller36 is to the left of the plurality of secondary grooves and then torotate the support element 46 about the axis of the rod 48 to facilitatethe loading of the multi-lead cable 28 into the primary groove 24. Itshould be noted at this point that the support element 46 is rotatablyjournaled about the rod 48 on spaced apart bearings 66 (only one ofwhich is shown) so that it can be swung from its lowered operativeposition shown in FIG. 1 to a raised cable loading position. In order toinsure that the support element 46 is in its lower position when therollers 34, 36 pass over the plurality of spaced apart secondary groovesa cam assembly, indicated generally at 68, is provided. The cam assembly68 has a cam track 70 which cooperates with a cam follower surface 72 onthe support element 46. The cam track 70 is in turn rigidly mounted upona support structure 74 which is in turn secured to the upper surface ofthe upper plate 12 by bolts 76 or the like which pass through aperturesin the end of the support structure and rubber grommets 78 or the likewhich are disposed between the support structure 74 and the uppersurface of the upper plate 12.

Thus, after the rod 48 has been extended to a point where the camfollower 72 clears the cam track 70 the support element 46 can berotated in a counter clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 1 tofacilitate loading of the multi-lead cable 28. The upper arm 56 of theclamping assembly is then rotated about the stub shaft 60 to a raisedposition. The end of the multi-lead cable is then placed in the seat(not shown) of the lower arm 58 and the primary groove 24 with theplurality of free end lead sections overlying the plurality of secondarygrooves 24. The upper arm 56 is then swung to its lowered position tosecurely hold the multi-lead cable within the primary groove 24 and thesupport element 46 is then swung to its lower operative position. Thecylinder assembly 52 is then retracted causing the rod to move from theleft tothe right in FIG. 1. As the rod progressively'moves to the rightthe rollers 36, 34'

will be biased into engagement with the plurality of free end leadsections 30 which are overlying the plurality of spaced apart secondarygrooves 24 by the cam track 70 and the rubber grommets 78 which areslightly compressed during the movement of the rollers over thetemplate, the rollers progressively forcing thefree end lead sectionsinto the secondary grooves as the rollers move from the left to theright. This sequence of operations is somewhat schematically illustratedin FIGS. 6 and 7 wherein a single bar 80 rather than a pair of spacedapart rollers 34, 36 is illustrated. It may be desirable to oscillateeither the rollers 34, 36 or the bar 80 as they move across the templateto insure that the leads will be forced into the grooves, thisoscillation being found necessary with certain types of insulation. Nomeans to oscillate these members have been shown in this application,however, any conventional means may be applied such as the type shown inco-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 389,924.

Once the roller 36 or the bar 80 has passed the apertures 26, that is tothe right in FIG. 1 and to the left in FIGS. 5 through 11, the relativelength of the plurality of free end'lead sections may be varied inaccordance with the principles of this invention. Stated in its simplestterms this variation in length is achieved by initially engaging anintermediate portion of selected leads of the plurality of free end leadsections with a push rod means or the like and then moving the push rodmeans through the aperture means 26 in the template to form a bight inthe selected leads. The push rod means may either move downwardlythrough the apertures as illustrated in FIGS. 8 through 10, or upwardlythrough the apertures in the manner indicated in FIGS. 1, 4 and Thus,when it is desired to vary the length of four leads when making a cableassembly for a telephone hand set, two leads will be engaged by the pushrod means to lengthen these leads while the other two leads are notengaged, and after the two leads have been lengthened the ends of theleads will be sheared in a common plane and terminals affixed thereto.

Referring again to FIGS. 1 through 5, the push rod means are indicatedgenerally at 82 and include in this embodiment four push rods 84. Eachof the push rods 84 has a bifurcated upper end portion 86 having spacedapart side portions and a lower intermediate portion which are adaptedto engage the leads in the manner illustrated in the drawings. A lowerportion of the push rods are provided with a stop in the form ofa notch88. Each of the push rods 84 is mounted for sliding motion in spacedapart apertures in a mounting bar 90. Rigidly secured to the mountingbar 90 on one side thereof is a latch mounting bar 92, the latchmounting bar having a plurality of spaced apart apertured ears 94, eachof the ears 94 receiving a transversely extending pivot pin 96. Mountedon the pivot pin 96 between associated pairs of cars 94 are a pluralityof latches 98. Each latch, as can best be seem from FIGS. 3 and 4 has alower cam surface 100 and an upper tang portion 102 which is adapted toengage the stop or notch 88 in an associated push rod 84. Each of thelatches 98 has its tang portion 102 normally biased towards the notches88 by a compression spring 103 which is mounted below the pivot pin 96between a lower portion of the latch 98 and the latch mounting bar 92.The push rod mounting bar 90 and the latch mounting bar 92 are mountedfor vertical sliding movement between a pair of spaced apart gibs 104(FIG. 2), each of the gibs extending between a lower surface of theupper plate 12 and an upper surface of the lower plate 14.

Means are provided to cause the push rods to move through the apertures26 and to engage the leads to form bights therein, these means being ahydraulic cylinder assembly indicated generally at 106, the cylinderassembly 106 being mounted on the upper surface of the lower plate 14 bya mounting block 108. The rod 110 of the cylinder assembly 106 isprovided with a yoke 112 at its outer end, the yoke carrying a pivot pin114 which is adapted to engage one end of a bell crank 116. Anintermediate portion of the bell crank 116 is pivotally mounted on apivot pin 118 which passes through spaced apart portions of a bell crankmounting block 120 which is in turn mounted on the upper surface of thelower plate 14. The other end of the bell crank 116 carries a pivot pin122 (FIG. 4) about which a roller 124 is journaled. The roller 124 isdisposed within an elongated aperture 126 in the back of the push rodmounting bar 90. In order to raise and lower the push rod mounting barit is only necessary to retract 8 and extend, respectively, thehydraulic cylinder assembly 106. l

If all of the latches were engaged in all of the various notches 88 itwould be apparent that all of the push rods would be raised during theretraction of the hydraulic cylinder assembly 106. Therefore, means areprovided to selectivelydisengage various of the latches. Before thesemeans are described in detail it should be observed that when applyingterminals to the ends of the leads of a multi-lead cable employed in atelephone hand set, and in other similar applications, it will bedesired to lengthen various leads relative to the others, and that theleads are to be lengthened may be color coded. For example, in one formof telephone hand set red and black colored leads are interconnected tothe mouthpiece while white colored leads are connected to the ear piece.When working upon themulti-lead cable of this example it is necessary toengage the two white leads for lengthening. As the leads are randomlypositioned into the spaced apart grooves 24 it is necessary to providesome means for the operator of the apparatus to control which of thevarious push rods are to be utilized to lengthen the selected leads. Forexample, if the two white leads were to be found to be in grooves 24 and24 as indicated in FIG. 4 it would be necessary for the operator tocause the latches for the push rods which extend through grooves 24 and24 to become disengaged from the notches of their respective push rods.Therefore a control box indicated generally at 128 is provided in thevicinity of the operators station, the control box having a plurality oflead position buttons or switches 130 equal in number to the variousrods. Each of the switches or buttons 130 is interconnected to anelectrical solenoid 132 by a lead 131 so that when the button or switch130 is engaged the solenoid associated with the particular button orswitch is caused to be energized. Thus, in the embodiment illustrated inthe drawings there are four solenoids 132, one for each of the push rods84. Each of the solenoids 132 has an outwardly extending shaft 134 whichis norm ally biased outwardly by a spring mounted within the solenoid.Upon actuation of the solenoid, caused by the button or the switch beingactuated, the shaft is drawn inwardly into the solenoid until the stops136 on the solenoid shaft l34 engage the outer end ofthe solenoid. Eachof the shafts 134 is interconnected with a pivoted latch release 138that is journaled upon a pivot shaft 140, the pivot shaft in turn beingsupported by a pair of brackets 142 which are secured to the bottomplate 14. Annular spacers 144 are disposed between the various pivotedlatch releases and hold them in their proper oriented position withrespect to the various latches 98. The shaft 134 is interconnected withthe lower end of the pivoted latch release through a pivot pin 146. Theupper end of the latch release is provided with a surface 148 (FIG. 3)which is adapted to engage the cam surface of the latch 98. Thus, whenit is desired to have two wires out of four which are to be shorter thanthe others, the operator of the apparatus determines in which of the twogrooves the shorter wires are located, (the red and black leads in thegiven example), presses the appropriate buttons which causes the pivotedlatch releases 138 to rotate in a clockwise direction as indicated inFIGS. 1 and 3 to engage the latch 98 and swing it in a counter-clockwisedirection to release it from the notch 88 on the push rod, and then theoperator causes the cylinder assembly 106 to be actuated causing thepush rod mounting bar 90 and latches 98 to be raised. Those push rodssupported bythe mounting bar whose latches have not been disengaged willalso be raised with the mounting bar. The other push rods are maintainedin their lower position by a hold downspring 150, and the lower ends ofthe push rods engaging a stop not shown.

As each of the push rods 84 which are still engaged by the latches 98are raised, their upper bifurcated end will initially pass through theassociated apertures 26, and the end 86 will then engage the leaddisposed in the associated groove 24. Continued upward movement willcause the push rods to form bights 152 (FIG. in the associated leads. InFIGS. 1 and 5 two push rods areshown in their fully raised position andit canbe seen from these Figures that the bifurcated ends 86 of each ofthe raised push rods has formed a bight in a portion of its associatedlead while other portions of the associated lead are still maintained inthe groove 24 by the rollers 34, 36. This is also illustrated by thephantom lines in FIG. 4. FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate an alternativeembodiment wherein two push rods are shown which have moved downwardlythrough their associated apertures 26. It should be appreciated thatthose leads which have bights formed therein have a greater overalllength between the first portion 154 ofeach of the plurality ofsecondary grooves and a second portion 156 of the secondary grooveswhich is disposed adjacent to the primary groove 22.

It should be appreciated that as the leads extend beyond the end of thetemplate it is necessary to perform additional work operations on theend of the leads in order to insure that the desired lengthdifferentiation is maintained. In order to obtain such differentiationthe ends of the leads are sheared by a shear blade 158 (FIG. 5) in acommon plane as indicated in the manner in FIG. 9. After the ends of theleads have been sheared it is then possible through automatic machineryto apply terminals or other desired elements to the ends of the workpieces. Thus, four terminals 160 may be automatically fed below the endsof the leads with the barrel portion 162 of the terminals being adaptedto contact the ends of the leads. If the terminals are of an insulationpiercing type it is then only necessary to affix them to the ends of theleads by forcing them between crimping anvils 164 and a crimper 166. InFIG. 1, the shear 158, crimping anvils 164, and crimper 166 have notbeen illustrated for purposes of clarity. It should be obvious thatother work operations could be performed upon the ends of the leads suchas, for example, stripping the insulation from the ends of the leads,applying color identification bands, etc. If this were the case, thenthe apparatus would be suitably modified.

With reference to FIGS. 9 and 10, it should be noted that the shearplane, indicated by the broken line, is shown some distance away fromthe end of the template 20. However, in the practice of this inventionit is generally desirable to shear the leads 30 adjacent the end of thetemplate so that the ends of the leads, after shearing, are in arelatively fixed location so that subsequent automatic operations may beperformed on the sheared ends of the leads, such as affixing terminalsto the ends ofthe leads, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 10. After the desiredwork operations have been performed on the ends of the leads, the leadsare then stripped from the template as indicated from FIG. 11.

It should be noted that the stroke of the push rods which are engaged bythe latches may be varied. Thus, the stroke of the push rods canbevaried by varying the stroke of the cylinder assembly 106.Alternatively, the stroke can be adjusted by mounting the latch mountingbar 92 on the push rod mounting bar for vertical adjustment with thetang portion 102 of the latches being disposed below the notches 88 whenthe latch mounting bar is in its lowered position to permit the latchesto move upwardly varying amounts before the notches are engaged.

, While the push rods have been shown with stops in the form of notches,other obvious alternatives of stops should be apparent to. those havingordinary skill in the art.

While this invention has been described with reference to an apparatusfor varyingthe length of a multilead cable having four leads extendingbeyond the end of the insulationof the multi-lead cable, it should beappreciated that this invention is suitable for other applications.Thus, it may be utilized when making a harness from a plurality ofindividual leads which are initially stored upon spools. If this werethe case then it would be necessary to vary the template somewhat. Forexample, the template could have parallel spaced apart grooves extendingthe .full length of the template and have means operable to hold theends of the leads adjacent one end of the template in a fixedrelationship to each other with a portion of the leads between the endsof the leads and the supply spool overlying the tem plate. After-theportions of the leads overlying the template have been forced into thevarious grooves by a roller or the like, it is then only necessary tomaintain the roller in engagement with the leads on the template at thatend adjacent the spools (or remote from the clamping device), to causeselected push rods to be extended through the apertures to form bightsin the desired leads, and then to perform subsequent operations oneither or both ends of the leads.

While two rollers have been illustrated in this application it should beobvious that it is not essential to have both of the rollers 34, 46provided that the ends of the leads are secured in some manner duringthe bight forming process. Thus, it may be desirable to employ only theclamping means 64 or its equivalent at one end and the roller 36 at theother.

While a preferred structure in which the principles of the presentinvention have been incorporated is shown and described above, it is tobe understood that this invention is not to be limited to the particulardetails shown and described above, or the variations described above,but that, in fact, widely different means may be employed in the broaderaspects of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A method of varying the lengths of a plurality of leads havingsections which extend away from a portion of the leads which are held infixed relationship to each other, comprising the steps of:

providing an apparatus including a template having a plurality ofgrooves having spaced apart first and second portions;

positioning said sections of said plurality of leads in said pluralityof grooves with the sections extending between said first and secondportions and with the held portion of said leads being disposed adjacentto the second portion of said grooves; and

varying the overall length of said sections of selected leads byengaging. an intermediate portion of said sections of said selectedleads and forming a bight in said intermediate portion between the firstand second portions of the grooves while maintaining the sections insaid first portions of the grooves.

2. A method of varying the length of a plurality of leads havingsections which extend away from a portion of the leads which are held infixed relationship to each other, comprising the steps of:

providing a template having a plurality of spaced apart groovesextending the length of the template, each groove being capable ofreceiving only one lead;

positioning said sections of said plurality of leads in said pluralityof grooves with the held portion of said leads being disposed adjacentone end of said template;

moving an intermediate portion of said sections of selected leads out oftheir associated grooves to form a bight in said sections whilemaintaining other portions of said sections of said selected leadswithin saidgrooves; and

trimming theend sections of the leads in substantially a common plane ata location adjacent the other end of said template. 3. A method ofvarying the lengths of a plurality of leads having sections which extendaway from a portion of the leads which are held in fixed relationship toeach other, comprising the steps of:

providing an apparatus including a template having a generally planarsurface in which a plurality of grooves are formed, each groovebeingable to accomodate only one lead and each groove having spaced apartfirst and second portions;

positioning said sections of a plurality of leads in said plurality ofgrooves with said sections extending between said first and secondportions of said grooves, and with said held portion of the leads beingdisposed adjacent to said second portion of said grooves;

moving an intermediate portion of said sections of selected leads out ofthe associated groove at an angle to the plane of said template to forma bight in said sections while maintaining other portions of saidsections within said grooves; and

subsequently trimming said sections adjacent to said first portion ofthe grooves to vary the lengths of said sections of said plurality ofleads.

4. The method as set forth in claim 3 in which said template is providedwith aperture means disposed between the first and second portions ofsaid grooves, and in which said intermediate portion of said sections ismoved out of the groove at an angle relative to the plane of thetemplate by engaging said intermediate portion with a push rod meansmovable through said aperture means.

5. The method as set forth in claim 4 in which said push rod means isnormally disposed above said aperture means and moves downwardly throughsaid aperture means to form a bight in said section.

6. The method as set forth in claim 4 in which said push rod means isnormally disposed below said aperture means and moves upwardly throughsaid aperture means to engage and form a bight in said sections and inwhich said apparatus is further provided with means to one side ofsaidaperture means capable of engaging 12 and maintaining said sections insaid first portion of said grooves during the movement, of said push rodmeans.

7. A method of varying the length of a plurality of leadshaving free endsections which extend away from a portion of the leads which are held infixed relationship to each other, comprising the steps of:

providing an apparatus including a template having a primary groove anda plurality of secondary grooves emanating from said primary groove,each secondary groove being able to accomodate only one lead and eachsecondary groove having a first portion spaced away from said primarygroove;

positioning the held portion of said leads in said primary groove withthe free end sections overlying that portion of the template whichcontains the secondary grooves; applying a compressive force to saidfree end sections and moving the compressive force from said primarygroove to the first portion of the secondary groove to force said freeend sections of the leads into the secondary groove; and

moving an intermediate portion of the free end sections of selectedleads out of said secondary groove to form a bight therein whilemaintaining other portions of said free end sections of the selectedleads in said secondary grooves at positions adjacent said first portionand said primary groove whereby the length of the-free end sections ofthe selected leads between the primary groove and the first portion ofthe secondary grooves are increased relative to the length of the freeend sections of those leads whichhave not been selected.

8. The method as set forth in claim 7 further characterized by the stepsof:

trimming the free end sections of the plurality of leads at a locationadjacent said first portion of the secondary grooves; and

affixing terminals to the free ends of said leads.

9. The method as set forth in claim 7 in which said template is providedwith aperture means between the first portion of said secondary groovesand said primary groove, said step of moving an intermediate portion ofthe free end sections of selected leads out of the secondary groovesincluding the steps of engaging the leads by structure movable throughsaid aperture means and moving the structure through said aperture meansto form the bight in said leads.

10. An apparatus for varying the lengths of a plurality of leads havingsections which extend away from a portion of the leads which are held infixed relationship to each other, comprising:

template means having a plurality of grooves, each of said plurality ofgrooves having first and second spaced apart portions, and each groovebeing able to accomodate only one lead;

means operable to position said sections of a plurality of leads in saidplurality of grooves with said sections extending between said first andsecond portions of the grooves; and

means associated with said template means and operable to vary theoverall length of said sections of selected leads between said first andsecond portions of selected grooves.

11. The apparatus defined in claim 10 wherein said means to vary theoverall length of the free end sections includes means operable toengage a portion of selected leads between said first and secondportions of the grooves; and

means operable to cause said engaging means to move out of the groovewhile still engaging an intermediate portion of said selected lead toform a bight therein.

12. The apparatus set forth in claim wherein said means to vary theoverall length of the free end sections includes means operable to trimthe. leads.

13. An apparatus for varying the lengths of a plurality of leads havingsections which extend away from a portion of the leads which are held infixed relationship to each other, said apparatus comprising:

a frame;

template means supported by said frame, said template means having aplanar surface having a plurality of grooves formed in said planarsurface, each of said grooves having spaced apart first and secondportions;

means carried by said frame operable to position said sections of saidleads in said grooves;

means mounted on said frame operable to engage an intermediate portionof selected leads while disposed in said grooves at a position betweensaid first and second portions and to move said intermediate portion ofsaid leads out of said grooves to form a bight therein to vary thelength of said selected leads relative to the non-selected leads; and

means mounted on the frame operable to trim the ends of said sectionsadjacent said first portion of said grooves.

14. The apparatus set forth in claim 13 wherein said template means isprovided with aperture means disposed between said first and secondportions of said grooves, and wherein said means operable to engageselected leads to form a bight therein passes through said aperturemeans.

15. The apparatus set forth in claim 14 wherein said last mention meansare push rods which move through said aperture means.

16. An apparatus for varying the length ofa plurality of leads havingfree end sections which extend away from a portion of the leads whichare held in fixed relationship to each other, said apparatus comprising:

a frame;

template means mounted on said frame, said template means having asurface provided with a primeans further being provided with aperturemeanswhich intersect said secondary grooves at a location spaced betweensaid first portion of the secondary grooves and said primary groove;

means mounted on said frame and operable to clamp the held portion ofsaid plurality of leads within said primary groove with the free endsections overlying said secondary grooves;

means mounted on said frame and movable relative to said template toprogressively force said free end sections into said secondary grooves,said means moving from said primary groove towards said first portion ofsaid secondary grooves; and p a plurality of means mounted on said frameand selectively operable to move through said aperture means to engagesaid free end sections of selectedleads and to form bights in said freeend sections to thereby increase the length of said free end sections ofselected leads between said primary grooves and the first portions ofsaid secondary grooves.

17. The apparatus set forth in claim 16 further characterized by theprovision of means mounted on the frame and operable to trim the ends ofsaid leads adjacent the first portion of said secondary grooves.

18. The apparatus set forth in claim 16 further characterized by theprovision of a plurality of control means equal in number to the numberof secondary grooves, each control means being interconnected with themeans operable to pass through said aperture means in such a manner thatan operator of the apparatus can control the various means operable toform bights in said free end sections to effectively lengthenselectedleads which have been randomly positioned in said secondary grooves.

1. A method of varying the lengths of a plurality of leads havingsections which extend away from a portion of the leads which are held infixed relationship to each other, comprising the steps of: providing anapparatus including a template having a plurality of grooves havingspaced apart first and second portions; positioning said sections ofsaid plurality of leads in said plurality of grooves with the sectionsextending between said first and second portionS and with the heldportion of said leads being disposed adjacent to the second portion ofsaid grooves; and varying the overall length of said sections ofselected leads by engaging an intermediate portion of said sections ofsaid selected leads and forming a bight in said intermediate portionbetween the first and second portions of the grooves while maintainingthe sections in said first portions of the grooves.
 2. A method ofvarying the length of a plurality of leads having sections which extendaway from a portion of the leads which are held in fixed relationship toeach other, comprising the steps of: providing a template having aplurality of spaced apart grooves extending the length of the template,each groove being capable of receiving only one lead; positioning saidsections of said plurality of leads in said plurality of grooves withthe held portion of said leads being disposed adjacent one end of saidtemplate; moving an intermediate portion of said sections of selectedleads out of their associated grooves to form a bight in said sectionswhile maintaining other portions of said sections of said selected leadswithin said grooves; and trimming the end sections of the leads insubstantially a common plane at a location adjacent the other end ofsaid template.
 3. A method of varying the lengths of a plurality ofleads having sections which extend away from a portion of the leadswhich are held in fixed relationship to each other, comprising the stepsof: providing an apparatus including a template having a generallyplanar surface in which a plurality of grooves are formed, each groovebeing able to accomodate only one lead and each groove having spacedapart first and second portions; positioning said sections of aplurality of leads in said plurality of grooves with said sectionsextending between said first and second portions of said grooves, andwith said held portion of the leads being disposed adjacent to saidsecond portion of said grooves; moving an intermediate portion of saidsections of selected leads out of the associated groove at an angle tothe plane of said template to form a bight in said sections whilemaintaining other portions of said sections within said grooves; andsubsequently trimming said sections adjacent to said first portion ofthe grooves to vary the lengths of said sections of said plurality ofleads.
 4. The method as set forth in claim 3 in which said template isprovided with aperture means disposed between the first and secondportions of said grooves, and in which said intermediate portion of saidsections is moved out of the groove at an angle relative to the plane ofthe template by engaging said intermediate portion with a push rod meansmovable through said aperture means.
 5. The method as set forth in claim4 in which said push rod means is normally disposed above said aperturemeans and moves downwardly through said aperture means to form a bightin said section.
 6. The method as set forth in claim 4 in which saidpush rod means is normally disposed below said aperture means and movesupwardly through said aperture means to engage and form a bight in saidsections and in which said apparatus is further provided with means toone side of said aperture means capable of engaging and maintaining saidsections in said first portion of said grooves during the movement ofsaid push rod means.
 7. A method of varying the length of a plurality ofleads having free end sections which extend away from a portion of theleads which are held in fixed relationship to each other, comprising thesteps of: providing an apparatus including a template having a primarygroove and a plurality of secondary grooves emanating from said primarygroove, each secondary groove being able to accomodate only one lead andeach secondary groove having a first portion spaced away from saidprimary groove; positioning the held portion of said leads in saidprimary groove with the freE end sections overlying that portion of thetemplate which contains the secondary grooves; applying a compressiveforce to said free end sections and moving the compressive force fromsaid primary groove to the first portion of the secondary groove toforce said free end sections of the leads into the secondary groove; andmoving an intermediate portion of the free end sections of selectedleads out of said secondary groove to form a bight therein whilemaintaining other portions of said free end sections of the selectedleads in said secondary grooves at positions adjacent said first portionand said primary groove whereby the length of the free end sections ofthe selected leads between the primary groove and the first portion ofthe secondary grooves are increased relative to the length of the freeend sections of those leads which have not been selected.
 8. The methodas set forth in claim 7 further characterized by the steps of: trimmingthe free end sections of the plurality of leads at a location adjacentsaid first portion of the secondary grooves; and affixing terminals tothe free ends of said leads.
 9. The method as set forth in claim 7 inwhich said template is provided with aperture means between the firstportion of said secondary grooves and said primary groove, said step ofmoving an intermediate portion of the free end sections of selectedleads out of the secondary grooves including the steps of engaging theleads by structure movable through said aperture means and moving thestructure through said aperture means to form the bight in said leads.10. An apparatus for varying the lengths of a plurality of leads havingsections which extend away from a portion of the leads which are held infixed relationship to each other, comprising: template means having aplurality of grooves, each of said plurality of grooves having first andsecond spaced apart portions, and each groove being able to accomodateonly one lead; means operable to position said sections of a pluralityof leads in said plurality of grooves with said sections extendingbetween said first and second portions of the grooves; and meansassociated with said template means and operable to vary the overalllength of said sections of selected leads between said first and secondportions of selected grooves.
 11. The apparatus defined in claim 10wherein said means to vary the overall length of the free end sectionsincludes means operable to engage a portion of selected leads betweensaid first and second portions of the grooves; and means operable tocause said engaging means to move out of the groove while still engagingan intermediate portion of said selected lead to form a bight therein.12. The apparatus set forth in claim 10 wherein said means to vary theoverall length of the free end sections includes means operable to trimthe leads.
 13. An apparatus for varying the lengths of a plurality ofleads having sections which extend away from a portion of the leadswhich are held in fixed relationship to each other, said apparatuscomprising: a frame; template means supported by said frame, saidtemplate means having a planar surface having a plurality of groovesformed in said planar surface, each of said grooves having spaced apartfirst and second portions; means carried by said frame operable toposition said sections of said leads in said grooves; means mounted onsaid frame operable to engage an intermediate portion of selected leadswhile disposed in said grooves at a position betwen said first andsecond portions and to move said intermediate portion of said leads outof said grooves to form a bight therein to vary the length of saidselected leads relative to the non-selected leads; and means mounted onthe frame operable to trim the ends of said sections adjacent said firstportion of said grooves.
 14. The apparatus set forth in claim 13 whereinsaid template means is provided with aperture means disposeD betweensaid first and second portions of said grooves, and wherein said meansoperable to engage selected leads to form a bight therein passes throughsaid aperture means.
 15. The apparatus set forth in claim 14 whereinsaid last mention means are push rods which move through said aperturemeans.
 16. An apparatus for varying the length of a plurality of leadshaving free end sections which extend away from a portion of the leadswhich are held in fixed relationship to each other, said apparatuscomprising: a frame; template means mounted on said frame, said templatemeans having a surface provided with a primary groove and a plurality ofsecondary grooves emanating from the primary groove, each of saidsecondary grooves being of a size able to accomodate only one lead andhaving a first portion spaced away from said primary groove, saidtemplate means further being provided with aperture means whichintersect said secondary grooves at a location spaced between said firstportion of the secondary grooves and said primary groove; means mountedon said frame and operable to clamp the held portion of said pluralityof leads within said primary groove with the free end sections overlyingsaid secondary grooves; means mounted on said frame and movable relativeto said template to progressively force said free end sections into saidsecondary grooves, said means moving from said primary groove towardssaid first portion of said secondary grooves; and a plurality of meansmounted on said frame and selectively operable to move through saidaperture means to engage said free end sections of selected leads and toform bights in said free end sections to thereby increase the length ofsaid free end sections of selected leads between said primary groovesand the first portions of said secondary grooves.
 17. The apparatus setforth in claim 16 further characterized by the provision of meansmounted on the frame and operable to trim the ends of said leadsadjacent the first portion of said secondary grooves.
 18. The apparatusset forth in claim 16 further characterized by the provision of aplurality of control means equal in number to the number of secondarygrooves, each control means being interconnected with the means operableto pass through said aperture means in such a manner that an operator ofthe apparatus can control the various means operable to form bights insaid free end sections to effectively lengthen selected leads which havebeen randomly positioned in said secondary grooves.